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Tono Furusato Village

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Tonomagariyafolk talesopen-air museumYanagita Kunio

Photo: z tanuki / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) · original

Tono Furusato Village is part of why Iwate rewards travelers who read a little before they show up.

Tono is where Yanagita Kunio collected the folk tales that became Tono Monogatari, and this open-air site is where the buildings those tales were told in have been brought together. Six nanbu magariya — L-shaped farmhouses in which the family and the horses lived under one roof, with the stable forming the short arm — have been moved onto 8.8 hectares of woodland and paddy along with a water mill.

It is not a static display. The site is worked: rice is grown, fires are lit in the hearths, and staff in the houses do the seasonal jobs. Visitors can book hands-on sessions in plant dyeing, straw work, mochi pounding, soba making and rope twisting, each about an hour. Entry is ¥750 for adults and ¥400 for students, and it closes on Wednesdays in January and February.

Visiting essentials

How long to allow

2–3 hours

Best season

Late April–October for the working farm | Winter for hearth fires and snow

Hours

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM March–October, entry to 4:00 PM | 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM November–February, entry to 3:00 PM

Closed: Closed over the New Year | Closed Wednesdays in January and February

Admission

¥750 adults | ¥400 students and school-age children | Hands-on sessions charged separately and must be booked

Finding your way there

Directions

Tsukimoushi-cho Kami-Tsukimoushi 5-89-1, Tono. By car from JR Tono Station. Closed over the New Year and on Wednesdays in January and February. Admission ¥750 for adults and ¥400 for students and school-age children. Six relocated nanbu magariya farmhouses and a water mill stand on 8.8 hectares. Hands-on sessions in plant dyeing, straw craft, mochi pounding, soba making and rope twisting are charged separately and must be booked, taking about an hour each.

What locals know

**Book the hands-on session in advance.** Straw work, plant dyeing, soba, mochi and rope twisting, about an hour each, charged separately and not available on spec. **The magariya put horses indoors.** The short arm of the L is the stable, opening into the living space. In Tono the horse was family, which is also why so many of the folk tales involve them. **It is a working site.** Rice is grown, hearth fires are lit and staff do seasonal work in the houses. Visiting in a farming season shows more than visiting in the gap. **Wednesdays close in winter.** January and February only. The rest of the year it opens daily apart from the New Year. **Read a few of the tales first.** Tono Monogatari is short and in translation. The buildings mean considerably more with two or three of the stories in mind.

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